Back in May, the Vancouver Sun reported on a story about a former officer of India’s national police service being denied entry into Canada. The incident has caused a bit of diplomatic friction between the two countries because of the grounds under which the individual was denied entry.
A person can be considered inadmissible to Canada if they were a high ranking member of an organization serving a government that Canada believes has carried out genocide, war crimes, or acts of terrorism. A provision in the Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act outlines this:
“a prescribed senior official in the service of a government that, in the opinion of the Minister, engages or has engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide, a war crime or a crime against humanity within the meaning of subsections 6(3) to (5) of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.”
This was the first reason that the individual was given by the border agents for why he was being denied entry. They then turned turned to a different subsection of the same act to state that the individual was denied because of sanctions imposed by Canada.
The Government of India was upset that their police agency, similar to that of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was looked upon so negatively by Canadian border agents. Furthermore, the border agents also could not cite adequate proof that the individual was inadmissible because of something he had done himself. This individual had a visa that was valid until 2024 and had visited Canada many times before.
The Sun also stated that a friend of the individual who was denied says that this incident could be a result of a border agency policy change.
FWCanada is a Montreal-based immigration law firm that provides professional legal services on Canadian immigration. For more tips and updates on Canadian immigration follow FWCanada on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.
